Cylindrical flute

ABSTRACT

The specification describes a flute with a cylindrical bore whose blowing end is closed by a transverse wall at or behind the embouchure (the labial in the case of a recorder-type flute or the blowing hole in the case of a transversely blown flute). The flute is provided with means for correcting the sound of the flute so as to obtain the pure tonality which would otherwise not be obtained owing to the cylindrical bore of the flute.

l CYLINDRICAL FLUTE [76] Inventor: Erich Sandner,3547 Wolfhagen,

nsq lli vifillfi fiifil; @fiameny [22] Filed: Apr. 24, 1972 [21] App].N0.: 246,574

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 583,077 5/1897 Oliveri 84/3862,544,033 3/l95l Lawrence 84/384 444,830 1/1891 Guenther 84/384 PrimaryExaminer-Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-John F. GonzalesAttorney-8. Delvalle Goldsmith et a].

[57] ABSTRACT The specification describes a flute with a cylindricalbore whose blowing end is closed by a transverse wall at or behind theembouchure (the labial in the case of a recorder-type flute or theblowing hole in the case of a transversely blown flute). The flute isprovided with means for correcting the sound of the flute so as toobtain the pure tonality which would otherwise not be obtained owing tothe cylindrical bore of the flute.

3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Apr. 22, 1971 Germany P 21 19 616.7

[52] US. Cl. 84/384, 84/386 [51] Int. Cl. Gl0d 7/02, GlOd 9/00 [58]Field of Search 84/384, 386, 380, 84/383 [56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 3,487,742 1/1970 Mills 84/384 x i I i \l cruupnrcar.FLUTE The present invention relates to cross blown and end blown fluteswith a cylindrical bore and more particularly to such flutes whoseblowing end is provided with a transverse wall at or behind the blowingopening (the labial in the case of recorder-type or end blown flutes andthe blowing hole in the case of cross blown flutes) means being providedfor correcting tuning of the instrument to obtain the pure tonalitywhich would otherwise not be obtained owing to the cylindrical bore.

Additionally flutes have mainly been made with a completely or partiallyconical bore or measure. Thus, in the case of Meyers flute the bore runsalong the whole length of the flute and tapers towards the free end,while in accordance with Schwedlers flute the bore is cylindrical forthe first quarter of the flute length and for the remaining threequarters of the length of the flute the bore is conical and at the freeend it tapers. In the case of Bohms flute there is a widening conicalbore for the first quarter of the length of the flute, which is followedby a cylindrical bore for the remaining three quarters of the flutelength. Many attempts have been made to replace a conical form of bore,which is difficult to make by a cylindrical bore which can be producedreadily. These attempts were made more especially in the case of flutesmade of metal tubes.

A strictly cylindrical bore, however, leads to the disadvantage that thetuning of the instrument is lost. Thus, although the basic notes arecorrect in pitch for 3/2 octaves, beyond this range the octave notes areflat, and must therefore be made more sharp using suitable means.

For this purpose the German Pat. Specification No. 1,1 1 1,914 proposesa recorder-type flute with a cylindrically bored body tube and a pipetube connected with it, a cylindrical widening of the cross-sectionbeing provided below the vicinity of the embouchure, this being achievedby the pipe tube being held at a distance from the body tube by aninserted sleeve. This widened cross-section extends over a length ofapproximately 12 Furthermore, the German Gebrauchsmuster No. 1,994,229proposes the recovery of the pure instrument tuning, which wouldotherwise be lost owing to the completely cylindrical bore, by adoptingthe feature that the bore has a portion which is narrower and iscylindrical adjacent to the embouchure. This narrowed portion can beobtained more especially by reducing the diameter of the tube.

All these known proposals, whether they relate to the use of a conicalbore, a cylindrical restricted part of the tube or a broadened part ofthe tube for obtaining true tuning of the instrument have thedisadvantage that it is only possible to produce flutes of consistentquality with these features if all tools are very precisely checkedwhich are used for the production of the bore in question. Furthermore,there are difficulties on the part of companies supplying flutecomponents to provide accurate cylindrical tubes with small tolerances,or in the case of wood and plastics material wear of the tubes used formaking the bore cannot be avoided so that effects consistently occurwhich prevent there being a true tuning of the instrument. These effectscannot be avoided.

This constant and onerous checking of the tools and the raw materialsused for flute production can be avoided in accordance with theinvention in the case of the production of flutes of the type mentionedabove by using a correcting means in the form of a plug extend ing fromthe transverse wall adjacent to the embouchure.

It has been found that by suitable adjustment of the length of the plugthe octave notes can be both made sharper and flatter to an aboveaverage extent without the flute tube or the setting of the transversewall, which is constituted mostly by a stopper provided on theembouchure side, being changed.

If in the particular case in hand it is a question of a cross blownflute, the plug can be used to overcome a problem which had notpreviously been dealt with in an extremely simple manner: As is knownthe precise pitch of the octave notes of a cross blown flute dependsupon the lip thickness of the player. If he or she has thick lips, thenote is pressed, that is to say sharp and vice versa. These variationsin pitch found in prior art flutes can be compensated for with theadjustable plug in accordance with the invention without any difficulty.

Furthermore, in the case of flutes in general there are also certainvariations in pitch of the basic notes themselves, which are partly dueto manufacturing tolerances and partly to temperature differences etc.For the compensation of these pitch variations recourse was previouslyhad, for example in the case of a recorder made up of a pipe tube and abody tube fitted together, making a slight change in the relativeposition of these two parts. In the case of a cross blown flute varioustypes of longitudinally sliding stoppers have been used for the samepurpose. However, the change, produced by these measures taken toharmonize with other instruments, in the length of the bore led to thetuning of the octave notes become somewhat impure again. For in the caseof all flutes there is a close relationship between the position of thetransverse wall and the particular chosen correcting means forrecovering the pure or true instrument tuning (that is to say completelyor partly conical bore, cylindrical widening of the tube or narrowing ofthe tube), so that every change in the length of the the bore has adisadvantageous effect on the pureness of the octave. lln this case aswell the plug in accordance with the invention provides a remedy in thesimplest manner using a corresponding setting of the plug. Thus, forexample when the stopper of a cross blown flute is drawn out somewhatfor tuning to agree with other instruments, the plug only extendssomewhat further into the tube in order to obtain a true tuning of allnotes. In this respect the correcting device in accordance with theinvention in the form of a plug is suitable for all forms of flute withmeans to harmonize with other instruments, whether they are com-pletelyor partly conical or cylindrical.

Owing to the simplified production of flutes in accordance with theinvention it is preferred for the plug to be tubular and moreparticularly to have a circular cross-section. It has also been foundpossible to use a plug which for at least part of its length is conical.in this case the cone can taper towards the free plug end and may run toa point. it is also possible to provide spherical thickened portions onthe free end of the plug. As regards the particular form of the plugthere is substantial latitude. The plug, however, does certainly notneed to be parallel to or coaxial with the axis of the bore of theflute, even although the latter form is preferred owing to reasons ofsimplicity in production.

It has been found convenient to use an average plug diameter of 30 to 70percent, preferably 40 to 50 percent of the bore diameter, while theplug length in the normal position amounts to 3 to 16 percent,preferably 7 to l 1 percent of the bore length, the larger plugdiameters corresponding to the shorter plug lengths and vice versa. Theterm normal position" means in this respect the plug length in the caseof a flute produced with the manufacturing tolerance of zero withrespect to an average lip thickness of the player. The adjustability ofthe plug is generally between +1 /6 and l/l7 of the flute length.

It should also be remarked in this connection that in the case of crossblown flutes the transverse wall defined by the stopper is generallyspaced from the upper edge of the embouchure by a distance equal to 20and 70 percent of the bore diameter. If the plug used has a thicknessbelow the above-mentioned limit, the mechanical stability of the plug isinsufficient and the possibility of adjustment is too small. Plugs whichare thicker than the above-mentioned range cause the tone to becomeblunt.

Finally, in the interest of facilitating tuning of the instrument it isto be recommended to provide the longitudinally sliding plug withsuitable calibration marks. These calibration marks should give the mostoften rnetwith lip thicknesses in the case of a cross blown flute.

In what follows the invention is described with reference to embodimentsshown in the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1a and lb show in longitudinal section the embouchure end of atransversely blown flute in accordance with the invention.

FIGS. 2a and 2b are views corresponding to FIG. 1 of a modifiedembodiment.

FIGS. 3a and 3b are sectional views through the embouchure end of arecorder or recorder-type flute in accordance with the invention.

The cross blown flute shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b has a cylindrical boredefined by the flute tube 10. The flute tube 10 is provided with therequired note holes which are not shown. The embouchure 12 is in theform of a cross blowing hole and has a rest 14. The left end of the tube10 as shown in FIG. 1 has a stopper 16 which can be moved in the lengthdirection and is provided with a hole 18 for receiving a cylindricalplug 20. The plug projects beyond the transverse wall 22, formed by thestopper, adjacent to the embouchure 12. At its free end it is providedwith a conical part 24 running to a point. Reference numeral 26 denotesa calibration mark for the projecting length of the plug 20, which whenthe stopper 16 is completely inserted gives true tuning for average lipthickness.

Two examples now follow which relate to a C-cross blown flute tuned toA=880 I'Iz.

EXAMPLE I Bore diameter 12 mm Distance between transverse wall 22 andstart of upper edge of embouchure: to 70 percent of bore diameter,Overall plug length I, I, I, mm Length of cylindrical plug part 11 I3 mmDiameter of cylindrical plug part 6 mm Length of conical plug part l2 l2mm.

EXAMPLE 2 Bore diameter 12 mm Distance between transverse wall 22 andstart of upper edge of embouchure: 20 to percent of bore diameter.Overall plug length I, =1, I, 30.4 mm Length of cylindrical plug part l18.4 mm Diameter of cylindrical plug part 5 mm Length of conical plugpart l, 12 mm.

FIG. 1b also shows the case in which the stopper 16 is drawn out adistance y for adapting the flute tuning to other instruments. Forobtaining a pure or true tuning of the octave notes, which wouldotherwise be lost, the plug 20 must be displaced by a distance 1:. For astopper displacement in the outward direction of y 2.5 mm in the case ofa cross blown flute in accordance with example 1 the displacement at 8mm, the plug being further pushed in by this amount, while on drawingout the stopper by an y distance of 5 mm 1 lies at 24 mm (the lattercase is shown generally in FIG. lb.

As mentioned above the most varied types of plug can be used. Owing toparticularly easy production a truly cylindrical plug shape ispreferred. FIGS. 2a and 2b therefore indicate the case in which the plug20 is simply inserted in a reversed direction. For this case thecalibration mark 28 applies, which thus has the same meaning as theabove-mentioned calibration mark 26. For a truly cylindrical form ofplug two examples are given also.

EXAMPLE 3 Plug length I, Plug diameter 19 mm 6 mm EXAMPLE 4 Plug lengthI. Plug diameter 26 mm 6 mm Remaining dimensions as in example 2.

FIG. 2b shows the case in which the plug 20 has been inserted somewhatin order to take into account the lip shape of the player concerned.

FIGS. 3a and 3b show the plug in accordance with the invention inconjunction with a completely cylindrical recorder or recorder-typeflute. As shown in FIG. 3a the plug is inserted into the transverse wall122 formed by the core 116 of the flute mouth piece and extends in thevicinity of the labial 112. In the example shown the plug 120 is offsetin relation to the flute axis and accommodated in a corresponding holeor bore 113.

After tuning the flute initially the plug 120 can be pinned in positionfor example. The plug 120 can then be pinned generally at 121, followingwhich the rear part of the bore 118 is conveniently closed.

FIG. 3b shows a recorder in the case of which the plug is mounted in anadjustable manner in the core. The bore 280 is bored out in its rearpart to a larger diameter and provided with a thread and the plug 220has its rear end continued in the form of a grub screw screwed into thethreaded hole. The plug setting can thus be varied after removing thestopper 230, closing the threaded hole, with a screwdriver.

Numerous other modifications for an adjustable plug holding arrangementare possible. For example, for this purpose a rack drive could be usedin conjunction with a knurled wheel accessible from the outside. It isalso possible in principle, in the case of a flute with a tuning device,to arrange for movement for the tuning device to be accompanied bymovement of the plug for adjustment using cam drives so that on changingthe tuning device setting in order to bring about basic tuning to agreewith other instruments the plug is also correspondingly adjusted so thattrue tuning in the overtones is always ensured.

What I claim is:

ll. A flute having a cylindrical bore, a stopper mounted in one end ofthe bore and having a transverse wall adjacent the embouchure, a plugcarried by the stopper and extending from the transverse wall into thebore of the flute a distance of between 3 to 16 percent of the borelength and having a diameter of 30 to percent of the bore diameter.

2. A flute as defined in claim 1 wherein the plug is movably mounted inthe stopper to permit adjustment of the extension of the plug from saidtransverse wall into the bore of the flute.

3. A flute as defined in claim 1, wherein the stopper is adjustablymounted in said one end of the bore.

1. A flute having a cylindrical bore, a stopper mounted in one end ofthe bore and having a transverse wall adjacent the embouchure, a plugcarried by the stopper and extending from the transverse wall into thebore of the flute a distance of between 3 to 16 percent of the borelength and having a diameter of 30 to 70 percent of the bore diameter.2. A flute as defined in claim 1 wherein the plug is movably mounted inthe stopper to permit adjustment of the extension of the plug from saidtransverse wall into the bore of the flute.
 3. A flute as defined inclaim 1, wherein the stopper is adjustably mounted in said one end ofthe bore.